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The local taxi industry is fuming over the city’s handling of a transportation bylaw as another major U.S. ride-ordering service eyes the Ottawa market.
Bylaw Chief Roger Chapman confirmed on Thursday that Lyft has met with the city’s bylaw department about operating in the nation’s capital. The company, which is based in San Fransisco, announced earlier this week it would be expanding into Canada, starting with Toronto .
Lyft, which, like Uber, works through a smartphone application, would need to get a private transportation company (PTC) licence from city hall. It would join Uber and Teslift as PTC licence holders in Ottawa. Chapman said there the city is reviewing another “active” PTC application but didn’t disclose details.
Councillors on the community and protective services committee learned that Uber made 6.36 million trips originating from Ottawa in the first 12 months under a new bylaw governing the taxi industry and PTCs.
The bylaw department hasn’t received complaints about Uber’s operations since the bylaw came into effect on Sept. 30, 2016.
The taxi industry is still grumbling about city hall’s treatment under the dual licensing system.
Marc André Way, co-owner of Capital Taxi, talks with people during an event at Lansdowne Park last June. Photo by Jon Willing.
Marc André Way, the chief operating officer of Coventry Connections and co-owner of Capital Taxi, said he’s “floored” that the city isn’t listening to cabbies.
“It’s so one-sided it’s not funny,” Way said after the committee meeting. “We’re trying to be as positive about this as we can, but it’s discouraging to see them not listening to what we’re asking.”
Way said the industry has asked the city to allow “soft meters” in cabs. The technology reads the odometer and GPS coordinates to provide more precise time and distance calculations.
Most importantly, the soft meters can link through the dispatch system to customers’ smartphones, much like Uber does.
Under the bylaw, if a taxi service receives orders and dispatches drivers through an app, it can lower the price of the city-set fare. The taxi industry has been working on this since the new bylaw started.
However, the bylaw currently says that a taxi meter must be hard-wired to the transmission of the cab.
Way said the city should allow both types of meters, especially since the industry has invested in technology that would enable soft meters.
“They say they’ve supposedly uncuffed our industry, well, they’ve cuffed us even more now,” Way said. “We’ve got the technology, we’ve invested in the dispatch engine, we’ve invested in the tablet, we’ve invested in improving ourselves, but we’re still stuck with archaic bylaws.”
George Chamoun, chair of the Capital Taxi unit of the taxi union, showed off the new tablet interface for drivers during an event at Lansdowne Park last June.
Chapman said the city is in favour of taxis using soft meters, but any political decision on the meters must wait until the next term of council because the bylaw was already opened up this term. The bylaw department will revisit the soft meter issue in early 2019, Chapman said.
The taxi industry isn’t worried about another major competitor hitting the road.
“I think Lyft will actually cut into Uber’s business more than our business and that’s what traditionally happens in the other cities, especially in the States,” Way said. “We’ll see what happens in Toronto first.”
Way and other taxi providers are suing the city over the new bylaw. A judge will be asked to certify a class action lawsuit next week.
As for Uber, the city is pleased with the company’s performance so far.
The city has staff tasked specifically with making sure Uber is playing by the rules.
Uber manages its own complaints, so the city doesn’t know much about the quality of service, other than by checking customer ratings made through the app.
Police also haven’t told the city about problems with Uber drivers.
“We’re not aware of any serious complaints that have been filed against Uber drivers here in Ottawa,” Chapman said.
With a large ride-ordering company about to enter the Ottawa market, there could be increased pressure on the bylaw department to maintain its enforcement program, but Chapman said he has the staff resources to handle another large PTC licence holder.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
Bylaw Chief Roger Chapman confirmed on Thursday that Lyft has met with the city’s bylaw department about operating in the nation’s capital. The company, which is based in San Fransisco, announced earlier this week it would be expanding into Canada, starting with Toronto .
Lyft, which, like Uber, works through a smartphone application, would need to get a private transportation company (PTC) licence from city hall. It would join Uber and Teslift as PTC licence holders in Ottawa. Chapman said there the city is reviewing another “active” PTC application but didn’t disclose details.
Councillors on the community and protective services committee learned that Uber made 6.36 million trips originating from Ottawa in the first 12 months under a new bylaw governing the taxi industry and PTCs.
The bylaw department hasn’t received complaints about Uber’s operations since the bylaw came into effect on Sept. 30, 2016.
The taxi industry is still grumbling about city hall’s treatment under the dual licensing system.
Marc André Way, co-owner of Capital Taxi, talks with people during an event at Lansdowne Park last June. Photo by Jon Willing.
Marc André Way, the chief operating officer of Coventry Connections and co-owner of Capital Taxi, said he’s “floored” that the city isn’t listening to cabbies.
“It’s so one-sided it’s not funny,” Way said after the committee meeting. “We’re trying to be as positive about this as we can, but it’s discouraging to see them not listening to what we’re asking.”
Way said the industry has asked the city to allow “soft meters” in cabs. The technology reads the odometer and GPS coordinates to provide more precise time and distance calculations.
Most importantly, the soft meters can link through the dispatch system to customers’ smartphones, much like Uber does.
Under the bylaw, if a taxi service receives orders and dispatches drivers through an app, it can lower the price of the city-set fare. The taxi industry has been working on this since the new bylaw started.
However, the bylaw currently says that a taxi meter must be hard-wired to the transmission of the cab.
Way said the city should allow both types of meters, especially since the industry has invested in technology that would enable soft meters.
“They say they’ve supposedly uncuffed our industry, well, they’ve cuffed us even more now,” Way said. “We’ve got the technology, we’ve invested in the dispatch engine, we’ve invested in the tablet, we’ve invested in improving ourselves, but we’re still stuck with archaic bylaws.”
George Chamoun, chair of the Capital Taxi unit of the taxi union, showed off the new tablet interface for drivers during an event at Lansdowne Park last June.
Chapman said the city is in favour of taxis using soft meters, but any political decision on the meters must wait until the next term of council because the bylaw was already opened up this term. The bylaw department will revisit the soft meter issue in early 2019, Chapman said.
The taxi industry isn’t worried about another major competitor hitting the road.
“I think Lyft will actually cut into Uber’s business more than our business and that’s what traditionally happens in the other cities, especially in the States,” Way said. “We’ll see what happens in Toronto first.”
Way and other taxi providers are suing the city over the new bylaw. A judge will be asked to certify a class action lawsuit next week.
As for Uber, the city is pleased with the company’s performance so far.
The city has staff tasked specifically with making sure Uber is playing by the rules.
Uber manages its own complaints, so the city doesn’t know much about the quality of service, other than by checking customer ratings made through the app.
Police also haven’t told the city about problems with Uber drivers.
“We’re not aware of any serious complaints that have been filed against Uber drivers here in Ottawa,” Chapman said.
With a large ride-ordering company about to enter the Ottawa market, there could be increased pressure on the bylaw department to maintain its enforcement program, but Chapman said he has the staff resources to handle another large PTC licence holder.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
